Savior
by Elizabeth87
Summary: Karen's life is filled with pain and suffering. She feels detached from every person in the village, until a young worker named Kai arrives. Is he the only person that can stop her from leaving her family? Will no longer be updated, sorry!
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

Ever since I was a small child, the sea has been the only true source of comfort for me. The rhythmic rushing of the waves, the scent of seaweed and the salt air. When my father would come home drunk, and begin to fight with my mother, I would always slip out of my bedroom window, and make my way down to the beach. I would sit there for hours on end, until I was sure that they had gone to sleep.

I can barely remember the happy times in my life. Before the drinking, before we moved to this village. My father was a loving man, and after a long day's work, I would sit on his knee, and he would tell me stories. Stories about faraway lands, and mystical kingdoms. I sat with my eyes and ears open wide, absorbing every single detail. He was my hero.

The drinking started when I was about four. He began staying out late at the bar, drowning himself in cheap wines and liquors. My mother, being the pushover that she was, didn't say a thing. She tried her hardest to keep up the image that we were the perfect family. That's all she cared about. She would take the abuse from her husband, so long as no one in the village found out about our situation.

When I was about sixteen, my father had completely given up on our vineyard. My mother and I were at a loss. We needed money to survive. We needed to work the vineyard to make money. But neither of us could manage the workload. That's when she hired on a young worker from the city. I didn't know it at the time, nor for years to come, but this young man would save my life, in more than one way.

_(A/N: Okay, so this is my first fanfic in a long time. Even if you don't like it, please tell my why, without flaming. Basically I'm planning on doing four other stories like this one, about each of the main girls in HM64, and their respective beaus. Should be fun! Reviews are adored!)_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

"Dammit Sasha! Don't you understand how hard I work everyday? I come home from a long day's work, and you don't even have supper started, let alone on the table! What the hell is wrong with you!"

Karen curled into a ball on her bed, squeezing her eyes shut. Tears lay behind her eyes, but never threatened to fall. Crying was for babies, and she refused to do it. She covered her ears with a pillow, in an attempt to drive her father's angry voice away. It didn't work. Her mother whimpered a small response, and Karen snorted in disgust. She couldn't believe how weak that woman was being.

"Don't you tell me to calm down! You're my wife and you do as I say!"

That was enough. Karen jumped off the bed, and pulled on her wool coat. It was early Spring, and nighttime, so it was still cold outside. Especially where she was going. She quietly tiptoed to her window, sliding it open. This was her nightly ritual. She closed it behind her, and shimmied down the drainpipe. When her feet hit the ground, she took off down the hill.

Her footsteps were harsh and angry, and she crossed her arms in front of her. She hated her parents more than anything in the world. She would be happy if it weren't for them. The only thing that kept her sane was the fact that in about a year, she would be eighteen, and able to leave this hellhole. She would be free, and would likely head for the city.

At last she could hear the distinctive sounds of the ocean, and she sighed in relief. She made her way down to the dock, and curled up against the post. She leaned her head against it, and drank in the atmosphere. Closing her eyes, she imagined herself in a far away place, on a beach, in the city, in the mountains...

"Excuse me?" Miss?" Karen jolted awake to the sound of a voice, and the unsettling presence of sunlight. Squinting, she looked wildly around for the source of the disturbance. She found it in a young man, tall, tan, and handsome. He had a purple bandanna around his head, and was carrying a duffel bag. "Are you alright?" He asked again, and extended a hand to help her up. Karen looked at it with distrust.

"I'm fine, and I'd like you to get the hell out of my way, thank you very much," she snarled as she got to her feet, brushing herself off. The man looked as if he had been slapped across the face. Karen smiled to herself. Who did he think he was, bothering her like that? With a fleeting glance back at him, Karen took off toward home.


End file.
